1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to wireless communication networks in which wireless communication devices are active and send wireless information to each other and/or a host computer.
2. Description of Related Art
As advances in technology enable the development of ever-smaller sensors and actuators, capable of detecting events such as temperature change, movement, and touch, there has been increasing interest in creating self-configuring wireless networks of these sensors and actuators, together with additional communication devices and software. Such networks, typically known as Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs), have a variety of potential applications. For example, WSNs may be used to detect soil moisture levels in plant nurseries, resulting in the automated activation of fans (when the environment is too hot) or sprinklers (when soil is too dry). WSNs may be used to log unauthorized handling of sensitive or expensive items such as computer equipment or artwork, or to track vehicles in a large parking lot, or for a wide variety of other applications.
As WSNs emerge from the research laboratory and become commercially viable, a question arises: What might the topology and communications processes of such networks look like? Various aspects of the invention described below relate to the configuration and operation of such WSNs.